Part 18 (1/2)
”I need to fill you in on the structure of Wiccan covens,” he said ”Wiccan covens are matriarchal That is to say, they are like beehives With one Queen She's the boss”
There was so
”You like that Good Of course non-Wiccans pretending to be Wiccans can do so else, but what do they know? Next” He flipped to a new card
”Like she said, you are no longer Initiates Which s, not just the open ones Do please continue to wear the robes, however I like seeing you in them” Flip
”Do you all have your books?” he asked us
We nodded We all looked at each other
”Good Each Initiate is given their own copy, when they coed to es to it The Book is really a metaphor for the Wiccan experience No two Wiccans are the saic split At this Gathering, we have three Houses The reason for that is these Books” He held up his own; it looked well-loved and cared for, though it had started to fray
”You can i Initiated by someone,” he said, ”and they hand you down their book, with all of their ht Important Improvements, and so forth, experimentations, new discoveries Wicca is not set Just as the Universe is alive and ever-adapting It is constantly in flux So is Wicca And part of the cha out all of the old, crusty ideas Upending things I think that's the responsibility of youth So whereas we can all trace our roots back to the sa, within the Houses there is mutation, just as there is mutation within your Books Do you understand?
”How us Codex without anything written in them?” he said
Lia raised her hand She was one of the feho did
”For each of you, the experience is going to be different We put the books into a Hopper Each coven was allowed to bring so many copiesannotated however they saw fit And we also introduced untainted versions into the catch-all Hopper Each book was then drawn and you received your books indiscri back to wherever they ca in new Wiccans for over a century It is iht way All Virtues have Power, just as all Wiccans have Power Just as all Books have Power Learn to appreciate your differences, and you will see all which you have in coo froht to Fledged?”
I didn't see who had spokenjust knew It was Vittoria I noticed, when I ca with Professor Lux
”To becoed takes longer Yes?”
”Thank you for that, but what I ?” said Vittoria, accoirls
”I understand You're looking for a cheat Wiccan steroids,” he said ”There aren't any”
”But I heard”
He held up his hand with the gnarly Wiccan Mark on it and she stopped talking Lux didn't need to hide his Mark
”Some would think an annotated copy of the Codex, with a bunch of marks in it, preferable It would be better than a brand new book which has never interacted with a Wiccan reed
”But ask yourself: Who was it that came before you, and what did they think? What should you think? Should you follow or take control of your own destiny? Are they correct by virtue of their age alone, and the fact that they were here before you? Maybe you have a better idea Don't discount the fact that you matter If you didn't, none of us would be here”
He broke us into teams, and instructed us to try and rain of sand,” he said, when he saw that ere having difficulty with that But no ic dust to move
”And the reason,” he said, ”is because there is no cheat, there is no shortcut There is only practice, and determination, and if you want Power, it co to explode A vein was throbbing inI had never felt less like a witch before
”That is your first lesson,” he said ”Wanting so it And I would say soe through trial and error Through trial and error You will bea lot of mistakes before you are ready to advance Do that! You ed to make fools of yourselves, because out there, you cannot afford to slip up So take advantage of this tiic”
I looked atit to appear, but if I expected to see so, it wasn't there
He dismissed us ”Not you, Halsey,” he said ”Stay a ht of the other Neophytes, all of ere staring at me Vittoria's wrath was particularly palpable She rain of sand, but she could certainly putto have to watch out for her
She looked daggers at the two of us, before departing in high dudgeon Lux waited for the others to leave
”I spoke to Stavros,” he said ”He was the one who brought you and your roooing, because it had also been on my mind ”He told me that you said you already had one,” said Lux
”Yes sir,” I said, wondering if he was going to be disappointed in me And then, if it was even my fault After all, my parents had left it to me
”I understand if you don't want to tell me, but I am curious,” he said ”Whose copy do you have?”
I explained to him about Ballard, and how he had sent the book toin Ro, and that I was one of the ones who had been invited to be Chosen He just nodded his head, like he was thinking about soet all dolled up for so to wear, and if I'm the only one who shows up without a date, the other kids will laugh at me” I felt pathetic
”Do you knohat I find works best for that?” he said
”I know Make mistakes, take chances Be the best htly as possible
”What else have you got to lose?” he said He interruptedto say isyou take charge It's like the Wicca ere talking about Destiny is for the people who are afraid to take control of their own lives You make your own destiny Have so It's like these Marks If I wanted to be somebody else, I could've been But this is who I chose to be Do you understand? I crafted ht arm with his off-hand; I couldn't be sure, but it sounded like he grunted
”Sir”
”Lux,” he said
”Sir Lux?”
”It's Professor Lux, Halsey What do you want?” he said s at me
”To knohy you really wear those talons”
”It's a long story”
”Is it really true that I will have to take the name of House Ravenseal if I join,” I asked, ”because I kind of likeyou?”
”It's nothing Go on I kind of like yours as well It is true But you don't have to do anything you don't want to do, Halsey Again, Wicca is a personal discovery process Soon you'll be eighteen You can make your own choices froriot over it
”How old are you, anyway?” I asked
”I'm your teacher, Halsey You cannot ask me to the dance”